1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an advertising display usable with existing telephone booths.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Although for only a short time, a public telephone booth has a captive audience in the user of the phone. Therefore, the phone booth is an ideal candidate to present an advertising message to the telephone user. During the dialing process, the wait during the ring, the endless hold, or the labyrinth of a voice messaging system that a user endures, the user can be exposed to one or more advertising messages that serve as welcome distractions. Even during a phone call wherein the caller is concentrating completely on the call, an advertiser will be able to place an advertising message before the user.
In recognizing the value of public telephone advertising display systems, many devices have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,878 to Paschke et al., U.S. design Pat. No. D263,101 to George et al., and U.S. patents and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,754,582, 4,961,294, and 5,031,366 to Cameron are a few of the many examples of prior art advertising display systems for public telephone booths. While these and other prior art display systems are effective at delivering an advertising message to a user of a telephone booth, they all require redesign of the booth itself. Although a redesigned phone booth may be an option for newly installed booths, it is not a financially viable option for the large number of public telephone booths already in place. Preexisting phone booths require an advertising display system that can be retrofitted onto the booth.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a public telephone booth advertising display system that can be utilized with existing phone booth technology. Such a system should be of relatively simple design and construction. The system should be easy to use and maintain and should require very little change to the phone booth.